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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. $ 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. | 



TYLER 



STATE SOVEREIGNTY, 



Parties and Politics. 



879. 



AN ESSAY, 



Touching the Status of the two great Political Parties in the 

United States. Also a Review of the Principles which must 

be Cultivated and Popularized to secure the Legacies of 

Freedom and right Constitutional Government, and 



A CRITICISM 



Of those Principles which must be Positively Discountenanced- 
must be Abjured and Renounced — must be Eliminated from 
toe Body Politic — before a Healthy Flow of Pa- 
triotic Blood in all Parts can be Realized; also 



AN EX POSITION 



Of Sham Democracy, and of the Question of State Sovereignty, the 

animus of the Unreconstructed ex-Confederates and their 

Northern Allies, including a Delineation of the 

Effects of the Fanaticism that becomes 

Inherent to the Characters of all 

who Cultivate the "State 

Rights" Theory. 



written BY j 

ERASTUS D. TYLER. 




LO 1 7SVIL L /■:, K EN Tl '< 'KF: 

Bradley & Gilbert, Printers and Binders, Cor. Third and Green Sts 

L879. 



T 



TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. 



I submit herewith an essay, to which I have been led in my reflections upon 
the necessity of a better method for improving the processes, which have been 
and still remain in vogue, for extracting 

" The Bourbon," 
The bane, from Southern politics; and if the said method is not fully approved 
by all my readers, I trust that my effort will at least be appreciated as an in- 
dustrious and kind attempt to reduce the inflamed swelling of "conceit" in the 
" form " of that class known as " Imperial Southerners," yclept " Bourbons," the 
fellows who have been imagining that they could perform the'play of 

"The Dictator and his Court;" 
Or, in other words, to show that those who think a monarchy is impending over 
our Republic, and that they (Dei Gratia), by the grace of God, are the aristo- 
crats, have made an extreme mistake. And I have argued from the fact that it is 
a charity to undeceive these gentleman, and from another fact, that it is a duty to 
enlighten the country at large upon the subject-matter; and I have especially 
sought to show that the patriotism of men of the State Rights order is so light 
and valueless that, were it reduced to a dry state, "The sigh of a butterfly in 
love would waft it to the four lost corners of the earth." 

THE AUTHOR. 



A CHAPTER ON AMERICAN POLITICS, 

TREATING OF 

1. The supremacy of party organization in American politics, 
and the evils of extreme partisanship. 

2. The aspect of the two great contending parties. 

3. The discussion of State sovereignty in 1787 by the fathers 
prior to the adoption of our Constitution thoroughly reviewed. 

4. Jackson and Calhoun. The nullification heresy promulgated 
solely for the purpose of degrading the power of the National Gov- 
ernment. Sectionalism, State Eights, and Secession natural out- 
growths of such heresy. 

5. The loss of executive control, and an apprehension of loss of 
preponderence of legislative power, the momentary cause of ac- 
tion which precipitated the attempt to found a Southern confede- 
racy in 1861. Tilden, Taylor, Watterson. Tilden tho automaton 
of Southern leaders. 

G. Destiny and fatalism. The starvation policy as to legislative 
acts. The possibilities of the negro South. The duty of the South- 
ern whites towards the African-American. Origin of Southern in- 
timidation and bribery. Toombs. Tilden'sbar'l of money. Tous- 
saint. 

7. Demoralizing and disturbing effects of tho reactionary con- 
duct of the present leaders of the Democratic party. The cry for 
State sovereignty a humbug. 

8. Patriotism, and how it should be cultivated, and hcrw it has 
been supplanted by sectionalism, intolerance, and ostracism. 

9. The use of the army as a "posse comitatus" by the Leaders <>i 
the Democratic party when in power. 

10. Fraud and fire-eaters. 

11. The glory of our country to be made permanent through tin- 
maintenance of a Democratic Republic. 

12. The extension of civil rights. Conclusion. 



If we wish to behold and comprehend the true state oi the great 
affairs of our country and their evil tendency at the present time, 
let us for a moment step into the arena of politics, and trace the 



elements we there find to their source, and try in the proceeding 
whether any good lessons can be found ; and if so, to apply them 
to such use as will best promote the welfare of the people, for they 
need relief and a rest from the disturbing and distracting questions 
that are kept in the foreground, to the exclusion of reasonable and 
proper subjects, such as have a true relation to their immediate wel- 
fare. These are facts too apparent to require argument for their 
support. As is the further fact that the majority of our legislators 
are developing characters, which evidence grave indiscretion or 
gross viciousness, and it is in the light of this observation that the 
writer feels called upon to offer a criticism, which is made in the 
hope that he may thereby divert such from a course so irrational 
and injurious to the public weal ; and that because of such criticism 
they may discover not only the propriety, but the pressure of duty 
for the consideration of objects which must be attained without de- 
lay, lest the prosperity of the country shall still further decline ; 
in other words, I wish to show that it is the neglect of the impera- 
tive necessities of the hour that permits a multiplication of the 
evils of which I am about to declaim. And hence it is, that if you 
cross the threshold of politics you find yourself ushered at once 
into the presence of two great antagonistic forces, called parties ; 
the one Democratic, the other Bepublican. And here wishing to 
argue to a point in conclusion, I will state that point at the 
outset. I will try to show that this Democratic party, so called, is 
led by demagogues; by men that are imbued with principles, 
which, if adhered to, will lead to the disruption of our Union. 
Therefore I shall denounce it as "a sham Democracy." 

We find, then, that these two great parties, arrayed for conflict, 
arc even now engaged burling at each other the most hurtful ar- 
guments within reach, or rather within the compass of their brain- 
force. And certainly the lines at present are, and have hern dur- 
ing a lengthy period, quite clearly drawn. And further it appears, 
that in 1861 the leaders of the Democratic party became so filled 
with heal, that they cast oil' or lay aside the graces of rhetoric and 
oratory, dropped all further attempt to sustain thenselves by rca- 
i and argument; they even fchrew down the mighty pen, cast 
aside all the emblems of peace, and as between themselves and op- 
ponents surrendered diplomacy, the only forte in which they had 
shown the power ami skill ot a master. Then clutching in their 
hands such missiles of war as their canning had made available, 
with threats born of envenomed hate, with purposes trained in a 

sohool of cruelty, and with a defiant and menacing attitude that 



was at once bold, haughty, and arrogant, they rushed into camp 
and organized themselves for war. appealing to the world, the God 
of battles, and the keen wit of their swords, to justify them in their 
efforts, vainly believing that through military prowess they could 
prove both their superior strength and righteousness. Tis notable 
that to reach this attitude they laid aside their best inheritance, 
patriotism — a principle without which the man of culture again be- 
comes a barbarian. 

We must say, therefore, as to these men and this party — and I 
speak of the party as it now is, and then was — there is but little, 
if any, real difference in its make up or its methods. Then it was 
the solid South with its Northern allies. To-day it is the same. 
Then they held the negro down in slavery with one hand, and with 
the other gesticulated threats at their opponents, in which course 
they had the co-operation and applause of their Northern allies, es- 
pecially the applause. To-day they hold the negro down with in- 
timidation, and at the same time proclaim their love of Union and 
Liberty. But their asseverations are incongruous with their acts, 
which latter still exhibit on all occasions their complete sub- 
servience to that spirit which comes of arrogance and sectionalism. 
as it did of old. Examine and weigh these men and see if they are 
not the leaders of 

"A Sham Democracy.' 

But to return to our discourse. When we see such a close mar- 
shaling of hosts, as the field of action now evidences, certainly the 
differences must relate to principles that reach the vitality of the 
Nation. Let us trace the movement somewhat, and, if we may, set' 
why it is that our condition is an unhappy one. Let us reason 
from effect to cause, and, if need be, from cause to effect, then we 
shall observe how we have been shorn of the prosperous and 
happy results which would reasonably have come unto us by an 
adherence to the true spirit of the law as given in our Constitution 
and in the teachings of the fathers. And as we cannot throw a 
clear light upon our subject without a partial review of historical 
facts, and of the origin ami authorship of the principles that have 
moved our political leaders, also of the motives that have governed 
our legislators, and that have controlled our executives upon the 
political stage, as the automata of the great parties referred to, 1 
will here insert such data as will he applicable. 

Beginning with the Declaration of Independence, which was 
made in 1776 by the representatives of the people ol the thirteen 



colonies, then known as the American continental dependencies of 
Great Britian. These in Congress assembled, uttered to the world 
that great declaration of truths that shall stand in undimmed splen- 
dor for all time, declaring as one people their entire absolution from 
allegiance to the British Crown, and honestly and honorably gave 
their reasons therefor ; and allow the remark, the same have been 
held as abundantly sufficient. 

This declaration tells us "That all men are created equal, with 
certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness, great and glorious truths that are self- 
evident to all men," the repetition of which never cloys. 

On the 25th of May, 1787, at a convention of the delegates of the 
United States, held for the purpose, as they tell us, of forming a 
union that should be more perfect than a mere confederacy, held 
to organize a national government — one lohich should supercede " a 
confederation destitute of every energy which a constitution ought to 
possess," to take the place of " a ruinous weakness," which then, at the 
return of peace, had become manifest, because, First, "No government 
can be stable which hangs on human inclination alone, unbiased by 
coercion." Second, " From the very connection between States 
bound to proportional contributions, jealousies and suspicions natur- 
ally arise * * * and we cannot presume that through all time, 
in the daily mixture of American citizens with each other, * * * 
in the efforts of faction and of intrigue, thirteen distinct communities, 
under no effective superintending control, will avoid a hatred to 
each other deep and deadly." * * :;: And because, " In the prose- 
cution of this inquiry we shall find the general prosperity to decline 
under a system thus unnerved." 

These are some of the words used by lion. Edmund Randolph, 
of Virginia, in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Delegates. 
Oct., 1787. And he said further, " But dreadful as the total diss,. 
lution oi the Union is to my mind, 1 entertain no less horror at 
the thought of partial confederacies. Two or more confederacies 
cannot hut be competitors for power." 

Now, we observe that this convention was organized upon mo- 
tion of Hon. li. Morris, "That General Washington should take 
the chair," which was unanimously agreed to, (he Representatives 
of seven States being present. An adjournment was had from the 
25th till the L'Nth of May, on which day nine States were repre- 
sented, and rules were adopted. On the 29th, the Hon. Mr. Ran- 
dolph, of Virginia, in an elaborate speech, showed the absolute ne- 
cessity of a strong consolidated Union. Mr. Pinckney, of South 



Carolina followed, agreeing with Mr. Randolph. On May 31, the 
following resolution was brought forward: Resolved, "That the 
members of the first branch of the national legislature ought to bo 
elected by the people of the several States." 

June 6th. On consideration of this resolution, the Hon. James 
Wilson, of Pennsylvania, said : "The national legislative powers 
ought to flow immediately from the people, so as to contain all 
their understanding, and to be an exact transcript of their 
minds. He observed, that the people had already parted with as 
much of their power as was necessary to form on its basis a per- 
fect government, and the particular States must part with such a 
portion of it as to make the national government adequate to their 
peace and the security of their liberties." The Hon. Mr. Madi- 
son held, that when we agree to the resolve providing for a national 
government, consisting of a supreme executive, judicial, and legis- 
lative power, such is intended to operate to the exclusion of a fed- 
eral government; and the more extensive we make the basis, the 
greater probability of its duration, and of happiness, and good or- 
der. 

June 7th. On the question of electing the second branch of the 
national legislature, it was moved by Mr. Dickinson, of Delaware, 
" That same be chosen by State legislatures," and agreed to unani- 
mously. 

June 11. Present, eleven States. Mr. Randolph, in an argument 
in favor of strengthening the powers of the general government, 
said : " We are erecting a supreme national government. Can we 
give it too many sinews?" 

June 12. Present, twelve States. The fifteenth and last resolve 
was adopted. 

Juno 13. All amendments were disposed of, and it was decided 
that the committee do report to the convention their proceedings 
in relation to the proposition from Virginia, and the discussions 
were continued. 

Mr. Pinckney, on the 25th day of Juno, said : " But a national 
government must not be made dependent upon State governments." 

Mr. Wilson made alike affirmation. 

Mr. Martin, of Maryland, was of the opinon, that the genoral 
government ought to protect and secure the State government; 
hence, he opposed the " Virginia plan." 

Mr. Madison said: " Some contend that States are sovereign, when, 
in fact, they are only political societies. There is a gradation of pow- 
er in all societies, from the lowest corporation to the highest sovereign. 



10 

The States never possessed the essential rights of sovereignty. These 
were always vested in Congress, their voting as States is no evidence of 
sovereignty. * * * The States at present are only great corporations, 
having the power of making by-laws, and these are effectual only if 
they are not contradictory to the general confederation. The States 
ought to be placed under the control of the general government." 

Mr. Hamilton said : " The question after all is, is it to our inter- 
est in modifying this general government, to sacrifice individual 
rights to the preservation of the rights of artificial beings, called 
States?" "There can be no truer principle than this, that every 
individual of the community at large has an equal right to protec- 
tion of government." 

Mr. Wilson said : " For whom do we form a constitution ? 
For men, or for imaginary beings called States ? Will a regard for 
State rights justify the sacrifice of the rights of men ? If we pro- 
ceed on any other foundation than the last, our building will be 
neither solid nor lasting. Weight and number is the only true 
principle — every other is local, confined, or imaginary. * * * 
There are only two kinds of bad government — the one that does 
too much, and is therefore oppressive; and the other that does too 
little, and is therefore weak. Congress (under the confederation) 
partakes of the latter. * * * The people see its weakness, and 
would be mortified in seeing our inability to correct it." Judge 
Ellsworth, of Connecticut, advocated State sovereignty. 

On the 2d of July a dead lock was reached by an issue between 
the smaller States and the greater ones, as to equality of repre- 
sentation in the Senate, and a committee of one from each State 
was appointed and met on the 3d of July. When, on motion 
of Dr. Franklin, a plan was agreed upon which included the clause 1 , 
" That in the second branch (Senate) each State shall have a single 
vote." On the 5th of July the report of committee was read in con- 
vention. Mr. Madison argued against said clause as unjust to the 
larger States. Finally, on the 13th September, the plan of the consti- 
tution was brought in by Committee of Revision, and on the 17th of 
September was sent to Congress, which unanimously resolved, 
" That said report*** be transmitted to the legislatures of the 
scvoral States, to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen 
in each State by the people thereof." * * * 

The above extracts have been made principally from the report 
of the proceedings of the convention that formed our great chart, 
which has guided this people through the past century, and, though 



11 

wc see that there were some few men like Mr. Martin, of Maryland, 
"who were extreme in their views in affirming the rights of the 
States, yet even these men held their views from sentiments that 
would not accord with those of the State rights men of 1833 or of 
to-day. 

In 1787 men were for State sovereignty on the principle that it 
was a necessity, not a right — an hypothesis since proven false — to 
secure the smaller States from the rapacity of the larger. 

They were not of the school founded in 1820, which was on the 
principle that there was a necessity either to extend slavery and 
thus secure a preponderance in numbers, or abandon it as a system 
upon which political power could be founded. "We find in the 
convention that adopted our constitution " a party composed of 
the delegates from Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware, and 
in part from Maryland and New York ; also some individuals 
from other representations who were for proceeding upon terms of 
federal equality," and these charged the majority with a desire for 
the destruction of the State Governments. This majority included 
N. Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, S. Carolina, 
N. Carolina and Georgia, and the minority were resolute in a de- 
termination not to permit any reorganization upon any plan that 
would give the States representation in the Senate based upon the 
ratio of population, " a representation founded upon weight and 
numbers," as Mr. Wilson, of Pennsylvania, had put it, even though 
the plan might be right, just, and fair. This, then, was the state 
of parties at that time. The great States and statesmen were nearly 
unanimous for a right strong and healthy form of government, 
and the lesser States and statesmen were desirous of having a large 
measure of power centered in the local or State governments, and 
finally this minority reaching the question of the composition of 
the Senate, refused to further co-operate, unless thoir meagre Statos 
should have equal representation in the Senate. As in the middle 
ages the petty tyrants demanded the power to rule, and coupled it 
with a threat of anarchy, so with the petty representatives of 
the potty States at the close of our revolution ; in both cases a dis- 
turbing element was conciliated, the continuing evil effects of 
which yet remain with us. 

A part of the New York delegation, under the belief that the 
powers granted Congress by the constitution were practically ob- 
literating the powers of the States, withdrew from the convention, 
and reported their grounds of action and the tacts to the Governor 
of that State. Now what is the result? Mr. Madison, who thor- 



12 

oughly comprehended the subject, has told us " that the States are 
not sovereign and never were. They are only political societies, 
mere corporations, having the power of making by-laws, which 
are effectual only, if they are not contradictory to the General 
Government." Hence, we all see that the power lies in the con- 
stitution, or in the people. It is true that the constitution says 
"That powers not granted to Congress are reserved to the 
States respectively, or to the people." But it is not true, as 
it has been the habit of the State Eight men to assert, 
" That powers not granted are reserved to the States," leaving out 
the words " or to the people." And we say that this habit when 
indulged in is of the nature of a fraud; and the more a fraud, be- 
cause the States never gave any power to the National Government. 
Bead the great Declaration ; it says, " we, the people." Eead the 
declaration in the constitution, and you find again that it is " we, 
the people." It is not the States that gave power, it was not the 
States that " reserved power not granted," and it was not the States 
that signed and ratified these papers and gave them full force and 
effect. It was men. Yes, men! Democrats! aye Republican 
Democrats! Not mere Federalists; but greater, it was constitu- 
tional Republican Democrats. And it was these great men who, 
in 1787, organized the form of our constitution, the deed, to super- 
cede the imperfect and informal bond of the confederation, which 
had come to be recognized as an unfit thing for the great purpose 
of promoting and defending the welfare of a great nation. 

Thus was the good old ship of State launched, and most beauti- 
fully did she ride the sea through calm and through storm. That 
constitution cemented the Union, not only as a matter of form, but 
in the hearts and souls of her patriot people. And it was not be- 
fore 1833 that a persistent, a schooled, and determined effort was 
made manifest, to nullify, to weaken, and to circumscribe the right 
and just powers of the General Government. But Jackson took in 
the situation fully, and ho scotched the snake when he sen I 
Letcher, of Kentucky, with a notification to Calhoun, which was 
to this effect, " That if ho, Calhoun, did not within five hours ro- 
oant his nullification heresy, and abate his efforts towards estab- 
lishing it, he, Jackson, would hang him." Calhoun received the 
communication, and weighing its, to him, certain and terrible por- 
tent, turned to Letcher — without waiting the five hours, or even 
ono — and said with great emphasis, " If Jackson said that, he will do 
it ; I recant, sir !" 

This is the way that the author of the secession heresy was nan- 



13 

died in 1833 by a constitutional Democrat. And Calhoun and his 
adherents, having found it dangerous to conspire openly then and 
thereafter, resorted to subterfuge as a rule of action, continuing to 
lay their plans in secrcsy till 18G1, when, believing that they had 
arrived at a point at which success was within their power to 
reach and grasp, they laid aside the muniments held by them 
in the Union, tore off the veil and mask, and made the vain at- 
tempt to destroy the nation, and the attempt to establish an aristo- 
cratic confederacy as well, with human slavery as the chief corner- 
stone. Defeated and nearly annihilated in 1865, they sought early 
opportunity to ask pardon from their conquerors. 'Twas freely 
and generously granted, and with it the right to again appear up- 
on the stage of action in the fullness of citizenship. Now we ask, 
have they mended their ways and manners? Not a particle. 'Tis 
true they have dropped their loud expression of the remark " that 
the republic is a failure," and their wish for a monarchy instead. 
'Tis true they have thrown off some of the aristocratic habili- 
ments worn by them during the life of their Confederate Congress, 
and have laid on their shoulders the mantle of Democracy. But will 
any man of sound mind, knowing their methods, doubt that they are 
seeking power again by unfair means and by outrage and violence, 
and that their ultimate hope, aim, and purpose is to rear an aristoc- 
racy? Can we doubt that this is their object and that of their co- 
adjutors? And when they accuse Grant of Csesarism, the motive 
is the same as when they accused Lincoln of imperialism, and the 
ground equally false. They wish to familiarize the public car to 
the phrases, and apply them to an opposing force, regardless of 
truth ; and they cunningly charge the intent upon that opponent, 
seeking to create as much disturbance and disorder as possible, 
hoping thereby to cover their own nefarious acts and plots; to hide, 
if they may, their rush for opportunities by which the}' wish to ap- 
proach and finally establish a despotism. These tactics are not 
new, and the strategy is quite ancient; and if they could realize 
their wish they would most readily excuse themselves by the aver- 
ment that it was their last resort, the only alternative by which tiny 
could save the country and the dear people. Bo not deceived, my 
countrymen, but follow on and watch these men, who, all at once. 
appear so strenuous to protect the people in their liberties; look at 
their past and present associations, observe bow they affiliated with 
the monarchists of Great Britian and Prance in 1861-65. Seeifthe 
Bourbon element in this country are notto-day courting these same 
British enemies with a promise of free trade. Did not Mr. Tilden 



14 

court the ex-rebel Taylor, the brother-in-law of Jeff. Davis, and 
through him the royalists of England? And ishenotnow through 
the ex-rebel Watterson pipe-laying the solid South? That solid 
South saying, as a cover, they do not want to see a man nominated 
for the Presidency from the South country, yet covertly remarking, 
that they will dictate the nomination, and then the man ; and now go to 
that South country and see if they do not there scoff and mock at the 
sentiments which the great Washington left his countrymen as an 
heritage, a legacy to be cherished by every lover of liberty ; see if 
they do not falsify their pledges, as well as the law, in regard to the 
black man, and we will then ask you whether these men are to be 
trusted. These men who, in 1861, opened rivers of blood in our fair 
country, and strove in their might, and that to its utmost, to reach the 
deep arteries of our heart, and thus to accomplish the end of our great 
and good republic. And then remember, that those are the men 
we are asked to trust. 

And now, further, during the performance of our duty in watch- 
ing the conduct of the Southerner, we should not neglect to observe 
that of his Northern ally, and we shall find the picture, as of old, 
the same, because the former still feel a measure of contempt for 
those allies equal to that they used so openly to express prior 
to 1861. Then they called the Northern Democrat a " dough-face," 
and looked down on him as a miserable " toady." Then they used 
to say openly, that the " dough-faces" of the North were amply re- 
paid for any service they had rendered the South by the great 
privilege they had gained of associating with gentlemen ; now, 
they only think these things. Then, as now, they loathed 
the mean spirit of their Northern allies. Then, as now, they hated 
their opponents with unlimited intensit}' ; but they mingled respect 
with their hate, as they measured the height of spirit, of temper, 
and of power that opponent displayed. 

The real status is the same to day ; the " dough-faced " Democrat 
is a " toady " still, and the Southerner, disguised as a Democrat, is 
an aristocrat still. 

Now, in another light and different order, lot us review some of 
the events that have occurred .since the adoption of our Constitution. 
The causes of difference that then were prominent were gradually 
lost sight of, but, as time revolved, new gi-ounds for dispute ap- 
peared. The fathers had held public sentiment in a right courso 
until the approach of L820, when I he discussion increased greatly 
upon the question, how shall the limits of human slavery he defined? 
And the agitation of it during the succeeding forty years was 



15 



filled with much party bitterness ; but its discussion by the South- 
ern leaders was marked in language which exhibited a rancor, ever 
increasing, and the leaders of the opposition had to contend with 
these men, then in contixfl of the Government, as to measures relating 
to such subjects as nullification, compromise, the fugitive slave 
law, squatter sovereignty, and secession, together with a host of 
collateral issues made and passed upon. There was at all times a 
dire contest, an irrepressible conflict, or, as M. Gambetta would have 
said, the differences upon the great question we have named were 
irreconcilable. This conflictspread from " Mason and Dixon's line," 
North and South, and southern oligarchists at last became so furious, 
so blinded and maddened by rage, that their excitement destroyed 
for the time all use of their reasoning faculties, so necessary for the 
successful direction and control of a great and enduring struggle ; 
and the southern mind, with rare exceptions, displayed itself as the 
servant of intense hate. Of these exceptions was Mr. Boyce, of South 
Carolina. If we remember rightly, he, in one of his better reason- 
ing moods, with the view to persuade his friends out of the secession 
mania, said : " Secession will be the knell of the slaveholder. It 
is madness. Whom the Gods will to destroy they first make mad ;" 
but such a prophecy was cast aside, as if its author was an idiot or 
lunatic, and the plot went on. 

These Southern Democrats, so called, held their Northern allies 
to the course by coaxing and threats, which they used alternately, 
or, as they thought the occasion required, caring only to retain the 
reins of power. They saw that the principles of liberty founded in 
a right democratic exercise had been so extensively cultivated in 
the free and intelligent societies of the North, as to produce a ma- 
jority, which was sure to overwhelm them, still the selfish, the sor- 
did, in fact, all the base elements which were held by them in com- 
bination, all these were subject to the control of these leadors,who, in- 
fluenced by a weak judgment and giving rein to the dictates of a 
vain and aristocratic ambition, inaugurated secession. 

This slaveholding democracy ! Was there ever on earth Buch 
a democracy ? No ; we should say 

THIS SHAM DEMOCRACY, 

And these leaders, seeing that the scepter of power must pass 
from their hands, resorted to conspiracy against the General Gov- 
ernment, and telegraphed in January, 1861, their instructions South 
for a concerted movement to complete the prearranged plan, which 
had been laid in secrecy, of seizing the U. S. forts, arsenals, and 



16 

custom houses, and that they would remain in Congress, and pre- 
vent the National Government from exercising its right functions 
in the emergency they were creating. 

We say they did this in pursuance of the evil purposes and erro- 
neous principles that had been wrought into their characters by the 
education and drill of forty years; which last fact best finds illustra- 
tion in the case of Mr. Mills, of South Carolina, who, in February, 
1861, said " he had regarded from his youth the stars and stripes as 
the emblem of oppression and tyranny." It is by these lights that 
we see the inner workings of these men, and how they, realizing that 
in the Union the inevitable result must be a widening of the bounds 
of liberty, and a narrowing of the bounds of slavery, found in such 
fact the motive that determined them to enter upon the fell work 
of rebellion. As is the figure of Lucifer and his satellites, rebelling 
in heaven without cause, so we say of Jeff. Davis and his par- 
tisans in the United States. 

It is true these men have been punished, but have they profited ? 
have they learned wisdom by their experiences ? whether such 
teachings came to them at the hands of men, or by the rulings of 
Divinity? Let us see. In 1865 they were conquered by war; in 
1878 they were conquered by pestilence and the resultant kind- 
ness of their Northern countrymen ; yet, ignoring the signs of 
heaven, and the lessons of their own practical experience, they, to- 
day, seek by unhallowed provocations to renew a contest by the 
overt act of an assault upon liberty's safeguards, and with evil 
purpose and object to override and break down the sovereign power 
of our National Government, seek a course which tends to anarchy, 
and would again embroil their countrymen in deadly strife with 
each other. 

Let them be warned that it they pursue this purpose to the bit- 
ter end, they shall be smitten, as was Belshazzar of old, by a just 
and merited degree of punishment. 

I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet, yet when the writing 
is on all t ho walls so plainly printed that " lie who runs may read," 
a prophet is not needed to foretell this result. 

J am not a fatalist or a believer in destiny, only as those in- 
terested make the occasions, as did Caesar and Napoleon. Hut a 
believer that a public wrong persisted in will find retributive jus- 
tice, and that if these men seek the vengeance oi'heaven and of man 
by these ways they will surely find it. 

It is almost useless to follow these men in their evil purposos, as 
shown in their ads touching legislation lately pending at Washing- 



17 

ton, where wo sec that they, claiming to represent the Democracy 
of this country, are engaged In sapping the Government of its vital- 
ity — these men, who in the vanity and cunning of their minds 
imagine the}' have again hoodwinked the eyes of the people, and 
who, h}' the extreme use of their snhtlc abilities, seek among other 
measures to reduce the army. For what purpose? professedly 
that the people bo not overawed. But is it not in reality from a 
desire to weaken the executive arm of the Government till they 
can advance their foothold, and then by force attempt a revivifying 
process in their old veins? Is it not that they may barricade the 
avenues of liberty, and then obliterate its lines? They object to 
the just requirement for national supervisors at elections, but they 
doubtless would object to an act that provided for the extinguish- 
ment of kukluxers, rifle clubs, ballot-stutters, white leaguers, and 
bulldozers. They have driven the citizens from the polls in the 
States they profess to represent; and by way of diversion they ask 
why don't the North send negroes to Congress? The question is 
as easily answered as asked. There are no great communities of 
negroes in the North to base such an action upon as in the South. 
So that such action in the one case would appear phenomenal, 
as does the absence of it appear so in the other case. And the re- 
tort should be, Tf the North had a like ratio of colored to white 
people as the South, she would most assuredly see to it that the 
colored race was represented by their own choice. Men of their 
own color doubtless, by men of polish, of culture, of wit, of reason, 
and force of character. These things would thus occur it' the 
North had control in the matter, and these things ace not only 
possible, but probable for the South yet to exhibit. For the South, 
with her great aggregation of negroes, can not hope or expect that 
she can always withhold from that race — by fraud and intimida- 
tion — the just rights to which bis citizenship entitle him; as they 
formerly took from him the fruits of his labor ; as they formerly 
withheld from him his liberty as well as the sanctity and virtue of 
his family. So now they lay a flattering unction to their minds 
that intimidation will again lead to like results. They believe, as 
Toombs did, when he in Atlanta, Georgia, January, 1870, said : "1 
can make you a constitution (State) by which the (white) people 
will rule and the nigger will never he heard of." * * * "We 
carried them (negroes) with us by bribery and intimidation; 1 ad- 
vised it and paid my money tor it." Here we /err (he <>ri<jiit of 
the present system of fraud and intimidation that rules now at the 

3 



18 

South, that would rule our country to-day had Mr. Tilden mounted 
his "bar'l of money" on wheels of the right diameter. 

But recurring, is it wise for them to overlook the capabilities of 
a race that has produced such a man as Toussaint? who as a gen- 
eral and statesman was not inferior to their own bright intellects, 
a man whose reputation excited the envy even of the great Napo- 
leon. I wish here to say that I have not written these recitals 
merely to show the people the character of the contest now being 
carried on; nor yet merely to show that in the presence of these 
great and artful demagogues we ought to take counsel of our fears, 
for though free to acknowledge that I have many fears, and well 
founded ones. Fears of disturbance and crime incited by these 
men ; fears of disorder and distraction which will prevent here- 
after, as it has in the past, the right progress of our country, and 
which to-day prevents the true shaping of our affairs for the most 
prosperous results ; the right ordering of our educational measures 
for a higher civilizing process. As I have said, these things are 
feared, and I would ask, do we not realize the appropriateness of 
such fears? 

Still, we need not fear that these men will lead us to an ultimate 
destruction, though we so well know that such is the tendency of 
their acts. But 'tis not in their power, even in combination with 
all their allies; it lies not in their united powers. No, my friends, 
the seeds of honest Democracy have been too long planted, the 
plants have been too well nurtured, and their growth is too sturdy 
and too numerous to fear that. Therefore, I say this writing is not 
solely to give recitals above, but written for the further purpose of 
drawing some conclusions to show, if possible, by resume, more 
clearly, how the foundations of this Government were laid — how " on 
the eternal granite" of human freedom and equality they are founded, 
and at the same time reach something of a comparison between the 
parties that are now engaged in another irrepressible and irrecon- 
cilable conflict — one that must of necessity continue so long as a 
party shall exist that dares to assail our constitutional liberties and 
rights. I also write to show how, under tho name of Democracy, 
many are led to a blind support of a sham! and that this sham 
Democracy is led by men who arc arrogant, aristocratic, and des- 
potic in their characteristics; and that, whatever their ultimate 
purpose may be, to show even to them, that there is no room in this 
Ropublic for the development unto maturity of their imperial 
schemes, and that there in nothing more certain than their utter 
failure at last. 



19 

These schemes may be harbored — may be worked by men of 
their order however much, but when at last they shall come to try 
the issue of supplanting this liberal, yet — in the hearts of the peo- 
ple — inherently well-grounded form of government, they will find 
that they have counted without the host, and that a despotism in 
any form will not be tolerated, cannot be established, even though 
as before, it be attempted by adepts in plots and ambuscades; even 
though these adepts cover their plans and approaches by cries and 
appeals for State rights, yet shall they fail again. " State rights " 
is a pure humbug in the hands of these men. Its fallacy as a doc- 
trine was most thoroughly exposed in the National Convention in 
1787, and by none more clearly than by Mr. Madison. And the 
fact that it was but a pretence and humbug was well illustrated in 
Mr. Calhoun's metamorphosis, when, of a sudden, as a fakir would 
play a trick, he changed his attitude from that of an extreme nation- 
alist to that of one who would lead a party, the prime object of 
which was to nullify the national power, and was shown by Mr. 
Hill in the Confederate Congress when he abandoned his ardor for 
State sovereignty and urged the passage of a national conscript 
law, for which defection his opponents in that forum rang the 
changes on his apostacy, on his nationalistic posture. 

Wo say, then, that this appeal for State rights is a blind, or if 
not a blind, then an outrage upon our common sense, and of the 
same nature is, and ever has been, the charge of Cresarisni and 
in^erialism, which these men, themselves deserving, have cast upon 
others. We allude to it here again for the reason that they make 
and renew the charge from time to time against the candidates and 
officers selected by Republicans, and we wish to emphasize the 
fact that they make these charges merely to hide the tendency of 
their own despotic acts and purposes, evidenced and proven in their 
measures of intimidation and fraud lately practised in the elections 
South, the processes by which they, at this moment, seek to ener- 
vate the right forces of the National Government, to hide the ani- 
mus which impelled them to champion late acts of legislation, 
some of which, indeed, have been passed by their dictation without 
fair opportunity for amendment— a proceeding both undemocratic 
and unfair; and, again, to cover that same animus which has also 
led them to essay an adaptation of the starvation policy in regard 
to bills pending — a policy which added to their condemnation in 
action as rebels; a policy that will, if it is possible, increase thai 
condemnation as legislators in proportion as they pursue it. 

Now, as wo have shown, the fallacy of State sovereignty has long 



20 

since been made apparent, and the ex-rebels ought to realize the 
fact more fully, more keenly than any else, for the virtue and bene- 
fit that would come to them of such realization is patent, and was 
made conspicuous in the necessity which they had of dropping it 
at Appomattox as a " Lost Cause." And really, if these men, as 
they have, most of them, ever since professed, desire to renew in 
their hearts a true and full measure of patriotism, they must abjure 
this false doctrine of State rights, because patriotism can only be de- 
fined as an unstinted love of our whole country, as a principle which 
must be contradistinguished from an affection for a mere fraction or 
section of it, from which latter conception there could come nothing 
more than a dwarfed and narrow sentiment, one that could never 
mould a character, except samebe surmounted by bigotry, arrogance, 
and sectionalism in individuals; a character that becomes crystalizcd 
in intolerance and ostracism in the community. Wo might as well 
hope to see water running up the hillsides in the courses made by na- 
ture as to expect a patriot to come through or outof a character formed 
under such influences. And I submit the proposition, whether in 
restoring, in manner as done, the States formerly under control of 
the rebels to their places in the Union, we did not fail to eliminate 
the great evil that led to said rebellion? Which appears in our 
having neglected to incorporate an adequate proviso against this 
absurd and incongruous doctrino of State rights, instead of leaving 
it as a possible lever to bo used in affairs of national concern, a 
doctrine which would allow the creature to interfere with, even to 
destroy, the creator, parricidal. And which, as we now sec, is hut 
a school for the production of men tinctured with principles and 
ideas too narrow for the noble form of patriots. 

We are compelled thus to refer to this aspect of our difficulties by 
the conduct of our ex-confederate Democrats and their Northern 
allies, who, by their reactionary Conduct, have reached an attitude, 
a posture, which [troves them unregenerate in spite of all their past 
and present professions, proves that they still desire to hold on to 
the old spirit of Bourbon, proves their desire to live over again a 
Line oi action which will disturb, distract, and cripple the onward 
march oi our common country. We can easily see that their as- 
saults upon the ami}' are a part of their old system oi tactics; for 
that army has not been used to interfere with the rights or jusl 
liberties of citizens since the days of Buchanan's official lifoj since 
the days when the aristocratic lenders of a so-called Democratic 
part-}' held the reins of power by a foul coalition, and the army has 
not since that period heen directed for any purpose ot her than to 
protect and dele i id the country's rights — to defend the right powers 



21 

of our Government, the eitadel of liberty, to effectuate a true rendi- 
tion of our glorious constitution. 

On the other hand, we can truly say that the leaders of the 
Democratic party when in power held not only to the principle 
that it was right and proper to use the army as a '•' posse eomitatus," 
but they carried the principle into practice when they were in pos- 
session of such power by such use of the army up to the very last. 
Witness such use in the fugitive slave case, also in Utah, and 
lastly, the foul use of the army as a posse in Kansas by Jus. Bu- 
ehanan — the tool of Southern aristocrats — there to override the will 
of the people and to strike down freedom. 

Is it possible, then, that we can sit tamely by and listen in silence 
to the false leaders of a party, culled Democratic, and hear them 
arrogate to themselves the virtue of protecting the people from 
tyranny? Are these men — with such a record — who dare to artic- 
ulate the word "fraud," and seem capable of repeating the per- 
formance without burning their own tongues? No; they are "fire- 
eaters" — a most truthful application of a name. 

Now, having taken all these things into view, and observing that 
these are the men who once reddened their hands in the blood of 
their brothers, not figuratively but literally, and did their evil acts 
for the purpose of accomplishing another wrong equally great — the 
disruption of our Union; which acts they did, seeking to destroy 
a great and noble work — a nation established through the most 
supreme efforts and sacrifices winch patriots could possibly put 
forth, efforts and sacrifices that purified the very souls of the lathers 
for the work of organizing our National Government, lor the work 
of securing our liberties firmly^ constitutionally, securing our coun- 
try in all its greatness — past, present, and prospective. 

When you sec these men again resorting to the base and in 
famous ways formerly traversed by them, watch them! They may 
call themselves Democrats, bat 'tis false! There is in them no true 
Democracy! And look well to those with whom they affiliate. 1 1 
a dough-face, mark him. If a greenbacker, Bound him, and Bee ii 
he has the ring of the true metal ; if not, then he is bill an ally oi 
the American aristocracy. And righl here we wish to urge upon 
every citizen the performance of a prime duly. Tear oil the mask 
from these men, the sham by which they are deceiving their own 
followers and outraging our people generally. It is high lime that 
ibis false Democracy should be thoroughly exposed. Let (he sheep's 

clothing used by them as an emblem of innocency come oil'. I. el 
them appear iii their true character. They are wolves. Look at 
the roll of those who have sought or consented to the idea of a dis- 



22 

ruption of our Union and our country's greatness; you will find 
there only sham Democrats. For we hold that there is no truth 
plainer upon its face, or better established by reason, logic, and ex- 
perience than this: That in the unity of every fraction of our 
constitutional powers, as a Democratic Eepublic, lies our best lib 
crty — its strength, permanency, and everlasting glory. And that 
the reverse condition is to be found in a mere confederacy of States, 
and especially will this reverse appear when a portion of the peo- 
ple, in one section of such States, are demoralized with aristocratic 
sentiments. 

Now, in conclusion, I ask you to reflect upon these statements 
and suggestions soberly and calmly, and if you find I have spoken 
with severity, see if the facts do not justify and require severe 
language, and fully bear out the necessity of that used. I know 
that I have not spoken in malice, for I feel no wish or desire 
that ill should come to these men beyond that corrective punish- 
ment that is necessary to improve their characters, their ethics ; 
and, really, the wish of my heart is to save them from themselves, 
the consequences of their own follies and wrongs, and our every 
countryman from the hurt of their evil communications. 

Therefore, I urge, do not let them longer bear the honored ban- 
ner of Democracy. Challenge them ; prove their falsity, and take 
it from them; they hold it without right and without true aft'ec- 
t'on: tear off their masks on all occasions; let them have a full 
measure of criticism, and thus compel them to mend their ways, to 
bring forth works meet for repentance. 

There can be no virtue in men that falsify their emblems, that 
carry the banner of Democracy, and perform the works of aristo- 
cracy. 

And now let us discover on the one hand that the paramount 
lesson to be inculcated is the immediate and urgent necessity for 
the extension of civil rights "in point of fact," in the spirit as 
in the letter, over every square foot of our broad domain, to in- 
clude a complete provision for every individual citizen within the 
bounds of the nation. And on tho other hand the prompt and se- 
vere repression of tho practice of political ostracism, a practice 
which lias been so long held and so vividly illustrated by acts of 
persecution, hostility, ami violence. And looking at the other side 
of the record, we find that the Republican party appears as the 
conservator of those valuable political elements, which, flowing unto 
its adherents, guided ami nerved them to maintain our glorious 
Union through a dire ami desperate strait, a fierce and terrible 
struggle, precipitated in lStil by internal enemies for the purpose 



23 

of disrupting our nation. For these reasons we can confidently 
found our hopes upon this Republican party organization, which, 
grasping the words of its greatest leader, "with charity for all and 
malice towards none," conquered a peace and upheld the order of 
society and the integrity of government, rolling back from " Liberty's 
Land" a tide of despotism that would have enslaved humanity 
again, as did the feudal despots who rode into power on the great 
wave of anarchy in the year of 476 A. D., which wave, then hav- 
ing reached its greatest height, swept away the last vestiges 
of the virtues of a classic civilization — a tide of evil which ebbed 
and flowed over fallen humanity for a period of ten centuries. 

And this Republican party sustained in 1861-5 the assaults of 
pro-slavery secession force "like walls of stone," as did the Franks 
and their German auxiliaries — led by the powerful Martel — sus- 
tained in 732 the assaults of the Saracens and Moors, and the former 
preserved civil and religious liberty for America as the latter pre- 
served it for Europe. As at Poictiers, so at Appomattox. And so 
in the future, as in the past, we shall realize our hopes by adhering to 
the principles of the Republican party — an organization that fills its 
members with the inspirations of patriotism, the principles of hu- 
man freedom and equality, those brilliant gems that were be- 
queathed unto us through the supreme wisdom and love of human 
kind that embellished the character of our progenitors; an organi- 
zation which will carry our country's prosperity upward and on- 
ward to the full zenith of its possible glory. 

Such is the promise of the Republican party. 

And finally, in conclusion, having left the comparison of parlies. 
let us look at politics in the abstract. We shall find there a lew- 
points which are worthy of attention — should be fixed in our minds, 
to-wit : 

First. — The foundation principle of government is protection to 
the community in property, liberty, life; a complete provision for 
the general welfare. 

Second. — From this springs nations, laws, constitutions ami pa- 
triots, politicians and parties, statesmen and polities, and these 
should give, through the application of scientific truth, real pro- 
gress, high culture, enlightenment, and happiness, the "greatesl 
good." 

Third. — Therefore, right government is the first necessity, the 
highest point in public action that can he gained, and anarchy is 
the greatest evil that can befall a people. 

Fourth. — Patriotism is the greatest political virtue, and treason 
the greatest crime that can be developed. 



24 

Fifth. — Law is the brightest guide and the Constitution the high- 
est palladium of liberty, the stoutest anchors, b}^ which the great 
and living principles of true polities are held and made our sure 
inheritance. 

Sixth — Politicians and parties are the ways and means by which 
discussion is had, the figures in the forum, where the experimental 
philosophy of politics is tried and demonstrated, thus enabling us 
to clearly distinguish truth from error. 

Seventh — Statesmen and politics are the avenues of wisdom that 
direct and lead to right action, to the true philosophical control of 
public affairs. Therefore, 

We may say, that to secure a nation in the benefits to be derived 
from a continued administration of good government, we must not 
only have place for the above elementary principles of right politi- 
cal action, but we must have thereunto added a system of compul- 
sory and thorough education of the people, individually and collectively, 
through precise drill, from youth to maturity, in physical, technical, 
moral, and intellectual culture. This, in fact; is the great want of our 
day and generation, and from its complete development will naturally 
flow to the individual a perfect character, a character that shall blend in 
symmetry and unison the best possibilities on earth of divinity and hu- 
manity, those primepowers which are contained in the structure of the be- 
ing we callman. And w ill also flow personal 'a nd political economy as well, 
twin sciences, which, if applied practically, will insure national as well as 
individual prosperity, and thus will come the best fruits of a right and 
healthful exercise, general scientific truth, and its application to the ad- 
ministration of public matters, and these will produce the essence of 
politics, and give as a result a vigorous, powerful, honest, and i»t< Hi- 
gent race of people, in the full enjoyment of the blessings of well ordered 
life, liberty, and happiness, and a nation and government characterized 
by security, justice, force, and progress in action. 

We shall then easily eliminate from our current affairs class leg- 
islation and other improper acts, also the narrow and stupid dis- 
cussions thai now prevail, all of which are dictated and toned by 
prejudice, partisanship, class interest, ignorance, and corruption ; 
touching finance, currency, tariffs, internal improvements, the 
rights of individuals and minorities, of reform, industry, ol educa- 
tion, of religion, &c, which distracts, disturb, and debase our people. 

And instead, truth itself, in its simplicity, will be sought, found, 
and applied, and its immutable laws will govern in all matters, 
producing harmony and order in placo of contention and confusion, 
creating and establishing true and enduring happiness where now 
exists little else but misery. 



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